Hey, Everybody! I know I'm updating a bit irregularly, as opposed to doing my normal Sunday updates. But honestly, with how busy life is I want to get these chapters out as soon as I can without waiting. Sunday updates were great back in high school and college when I was regularly writing and putting out new chapters every two weeks, but without that consistency waiting until Sunday seems kind of pointless.

I want to dedicate this chapter to EchidnaPower, who wrote a really nice review for last chapter, and like me, is still working their way through an epic fanfic of their own that has been years in the making: "AAML: Diamond and Pearl Version." When you get a chance, check it out! It was just recently updated and is a great read. I look forward to catching up on the latest chapter this weekend!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

Characters' Ages:

Ash: 18

Misty: 19

The last five weeks had been an arduous affair.

Ash found himself training like never before. The lead-up to his battle with Paul had been intense, but it paled in comparison to his current training regimen.

Six days a week, Monday through Saturday, he woke up at five A.M. and jogged with Pikachu to Oak's lab. Once there, he would begin the day with speed drills. From there, they would move to strength. The physical attackers worked with weights, bands, and punching bags, while the special attackers honed their special abilities with specialized equipment. The mixed attackers had to do both. After this came lunch.

This was where Misty entered the scene. She would come to the lab and help Ash feed his team; normally bringing a homecooked meal by Delia for the couple, as well. After everyone had eaten, it was time for battle practice.

Ash had become increasingly paranoid about anyone watching him train. As such, he had gone to find a training ground in the mountains near Pallet where he could battle in private. He had remembered the spot where he, Misty, and Brock had once stumbled on Bruno of the Kanto Elite Four training, and decided to repurpose it for his own use. Now, after lunch, Alakazam would teleport the two trainers and their teams to the spot and they would spend the entire afternoon battling. Usually Misty used her Pokémon, or Ash's non-team Pokémon. Ash wanted to ensure his team was fully aware of his battle style and strategy, and did not want to risk them getting confused by switching between trainers. Still, sometimes Pikachu opted to fight with Misty.

After this was done, the couple would return to the lab, prepare the Pokémon's dinner, and then walk home together. These walks had been hand-in-hand the first few weeks, but lately Ash had been too distracted. After dinner with Delia (sometimes joined by Professor Oak) Ash would then retire to his bedroom to watch what scant footage of Red battling was available. Again, though, over the last few weeks, he had begun withdrawing himself from the meals earlier and earlier—to the point where he now took a plate immediately up to his room and ate alone while studying.

The problem, he realized as he studied Red's battles, was that none of Red's previous Master challenges had been challenging. He never had to use more than the same two Pokémon in any of them: Pikachu and Charizard. This was not useful for Ash, given that he had often relied on the same two Pokémon many times in his battling career and thus was already well-familiar with how they battled.

This meant he had to go deep-diving to find footage from before Red became Master. The problem here was that footage was harder to come by from that time period—cameras were not as prevalent, so all he had to rely on was footage from taped matches that aired on television and were later posted to the internet. So far he managed to find ten such battles, but not all of these were helpful. For instance, he found a rather grainy video of Red battling Blaine for his seventh gym badge—thirty years ago. It had aired on a local Cinnabar Island channel at the time. It was interesting history, to be sure, but Ash doubted that battle taught him much about his current opponent.

The biggest clue Ash had as to Red's current team and strategy lay in his own Master battle against his predecessor: Master Rohan. There, Red had used five Pokémon: Pikachu, Charizard, Venusaur, Blastoise, and Snorlax. Frankly, Ash had been surprised by how ordinary that team looked on paper. Like Ash now, Red had completed the pokédex before challenging Rohan, yet it was obvious he favored Pokémon from his native Kanto to other regions. Moreover, none of the Pokémon on his team were legendary, or even pseudo-legendary. The rarest member of his team was his shiny Charizard. Still, seeing was believing, and in his battle with Rohan, Red made a believer out of Ash that you did not need geographic diversity, or super rare Pokémon, to make a winning team. In that match, Red clearly relied on the Pokémon he had battled with the longest to see him through.

In this way, he and Ash were the same. Although Ash could have chosen any of the hundreds of Pokémon he had captured to go with him into this final battle, he found himself drawn to the ones with whom he had a deeper connection. After all this time, Ash still believed that all the strategy and training in the world could not replace a true bond between a master and their Pokémon. This battle would be the ultimate test of that theory.

Still, though, Ash found himself lying awake at night sometimes, wondering what Red's sixth Pokémon had been in that battle with Rohan. He could not shake the feeling that something more lurked underneath that calm, confident expression on Red's face as he battled all those years ago. The entire time it seemed like he knew he was going to win, and for that to be the case Ash figured he must have had something truly powerful waiting in the wings.

That was not the only thing Ash did at night. He also now spent a lot of time working with a battle simulator Professor Oak had shared with him. He could imagine up a match between any two Pokémon recorded by the pokédex and see what the optimal style of attack and defense would be. This was a rabbit hole that had kept him awake well past midnight many times now.

Regardless, neither of these things were what kept him awake. Instead, as the battle drew nearer he found himself questioning everything. Every battle he lost against Misty caused a mini-panic attack. Every .1 second decrease in speed by a Pokémon caused him to completely reconsider his training. They had stopped sleeping in the same bed because Ash said he needed to focus. However, Misty still checked on him most evenings and regularly found him pacing back-and-forth in his room in the middle of the night.

Finally, one morning, she stopped him at the door.

"What're you doing up?" he asked, surprised.

"We need to talk for a second, Ash."

He rolled his eyes. This was not the first time he had heard that tone in the last month. "I really can't take today off."

She put her hand firmly on his chest as he moved for the door. "Yes, you can."

He felt his temper flare. "Mist, I already took that day off two weeks ago, remember?" That day she had insisted he take a break after a training accident left his entire left side bruised. "I can't afford any more breaks!"

"You needed it then, just like you need one today. I heard you in your room last night," she took his hand in hers, "you were on that simulator till at least two in the morning."

"So?" He withdrew his hand.

"So, it's five now, Ash. You got three hours of sleep, at most!"

He huffed.

"Remember how much better you felt after that day off a couple weeks ago? You need a reset!"

"I can't afford a reset every week!" he exploded. He walked away from her and back into the living room. "The biggest battle of my life is coming up, and you're acting like it's not a big deal. Do you not care?"

At this, her soft expression dissolved. "Hey! Don't accuse me of not caring, Ketchum. All I've done these last two years is follow you around like a Growlithe helping you achieve your dream!"

"Oh, I'm sorry you've hated it so much," he spat back. "I guess it's been really tough enjoying all the nice meals and hotels and fame."

"I didn't say it was really tough, although it actually has been, now that you mention it. You know what comes along with all that fame? Drama! Every step of the way, we've had loads of it. The paparazzi, Dawn, Paul, Giovanni, the gym leaders. All of it! Every five seconds with you has been one crisis after another!"

He reddened. He did not know what hurt more: her words, or the truth in them. His dream had been the cause of almost every problem they had encountered in the last two years. At a crossroads, he had to decide whether to back down and end the fight that he himself had begun, or escalate.

"You haven't had to deal with half of what I have!" Escalation it is. "I'm the one who's been chased by cameras. I'm the one who was chased by Dawn. I'm the one who had to face down Paul and Giovanni, and I'm the one who had to help the gym leaders. I did those things. Not you."

Misty felt tears sting her eyes, but she forced them back. She would not give him the satisfaction. "You're right. That was all you." Her voice was shaking and she hated it. "I didn't do anything. I didn't give up anything. You haven't needed me for any of it, right?"

This took Ash off-guard. He had expected something hateful back, but now she was forcing him to choose whether or not to double down on the words he had just spoken.

He took a breath, and looked at her shivering silhouette in the early morning light. He could tell it was taking everything she had not to cry. He felt the same.

"That's not true," he muttered, through gritted teeth. He did not want to do this, but he could not bring himself to hurt her more, looking like that. "You know that's not true."

"That's what you were implying, right? That it was all you. Let me guess, after you become some hotshot Master you'll ditch me for a model, and then act like you got here all on your own."

He felt heat rise again in his chest, like Charizard preparing a Fire Blast."Oh, yeah, Mist. That's definitely what I'm like—I chase after models all the time. That's why I proposed to you, after all."

Her eyes widened, and now she looked angrier than ever. "You don't think I look like a model?"

"Huh?"

"You were being sarcastic and said you chase after models, which is why you proposed to me. You're saying I'm ugly?"

For the first time, he was a little scared.

"No! I was being sarcastic because you were implying I was gonna leave you!"

Seeing the fear in his eyes calmed her slightly. "Regardless, you did mean to imply that I wasn't necessary. You did everything. That's how you see this relationship?"

He wanted to scream. He hated this. He was tired. His head, eyes, and heart hurt. Everything hurt. It was too early to keep track of who was saying what and what he meant when he said something minutes earlier. Misty knew what she was doing: if he pushed forward, he would only hurt her, but if he backed down he would lose.

He hated losing.

"I'm saying that I've done a lot. You were complaining about how much drama our lives have been since I became a champion, but you're acting like you're the only one affected by that. I'm obviously the one who has to deal with the most in this relationship."

"Okay, but you chose this life, Ash."

"And you didn't? You didn't choose to go with me on this journey? You didn't choose to fall in love? You didn't choose to accept my proposal?"

"No! You think I chose to fall in love? Did you?"

"No, but I didn't choose to want to become a Pokémon Master, either. It was something that was always inside me, just like my feelings for you!"

She paused, so he pressed.

"You said I chose this life, but choosing this life was no more a choice than you choosing to go with me. I can't change who I am, Misty. My whole life has led to this."

"And you could have done it without me. Got it." She turned away. He could not tell if she was crying or not, but he felt his heart break at the thought.

"I never said that."

"You said it was you who did a lot, and made it very clear I was being stupid by complaining about everything we've gone through."

The fire in his chest was gone, replaced by a dull ache. "You weren't stupid. You're right that we've been through a lot." He moved closer, though still could not bring himself to reach out and hold her. "And there's no way I could have done this without you. You've been my coach, and you've helped me catch the majority of my Pokémon. You've been my battle partner for over a year now. I literally could not be here right now if it weren't for you."

She turned her head slightly, but her face was covered in shadow. "I don't need your patronizing. You said you did everything and that I don't care."

He bit his tongue hard. He was trying to take a step toward the middle, and she was still pushing him away. "I'm not patronizing. I mean it, I wouldn't be here without you. I never said I did everything to get here. Just that I did a lot."

"I know that you wouldn't be here without me," she bit. "I never doubt my value—I'm Misty Waterflower. The point is I don't know if you know that. Do you appreciate everything I've done for you? Everything I've sacrificed?"

"I already said I know everything you've done for me, and I never asked you to sacrifice anything."

"You didn't have to, because I love you, idiot. The point is, though, that I have. I gave up the gym, and I gave up a battling scholarship, so that I could help you achieve your dream."

"How did you give up a scholarship? I helped you train to get on the VU battle team."

"But they said if my gym had been higher rated, then I would have been an automatic admission! Because the gym was left with my sisters and downgraded, I had to compete for a spot in the first place."

He sighed. "Fine, I'm sorry I ruined your life." He felt tears biting the edges of his eyes.

"You know that's not what I meant, Ash. My point is that if you have the nerve to say I don't care about your dream after all I've given up—or gone through—for you, then you don't appreciate me."

He felt a bite of impetuousness return. "How many times have I thanked you for everything you've done? How many talks have we had where I told you how much you mean to me? How much reassurance do you need? I didn't mean to say you don't care at all. But if you cared as much as I did about winning this battle, you wouldn't be trying to stop me from going out right now and training."

"Idiot."

"Huh?"

"I said, you're an idiot. Are you deaf?" The sky was lightening outside, and he could see that her face was flush in anger. "All you care about is winning this battle. You act like I don't get it, but I do. I've known you almost half your life; this is your dream. I get it. But what youdon't get is that unlike you, I care about more than just you winning. I care about you, you idiot. That's why I'm telling you you're not training today."

"Telling me? You're not my boss, Misty."

She laughed derisively. "Oh, yeah, I am. Like you said, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten this far. So if my advice is the reason you've gotten this far, then you're dumber than I thought if you ignore it now right before your battle."

"But Mist, it's the sixth. I've got three weeks left before facing Red. Only. Three. Weeks. There's no time to goof off." He sighed. "Do you remember the last time we were here, preparing for a big battle?"

She frowned.

"It was the Indigo Plateau. I had gotten all eight badges, and had three months left before the tournament. We came back to Pallet to train, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

"And do you remember how I spent that time? I kept goofing off—going to the beach, hanging out at Oak's lab, playing games with Brock. You got on to me back then, and said I'd regret not training. And then I lost."

"Okay. And?"

"And? And so I can't afford to be that stupid little kid anymore. I'm a grown man now, and I have to act like it. If I want to win I have to put in the work. I'm doing exactly what you told me to do all those years ago: I'm training."

She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but you're thinking too much." She grabbed his hand and forcefully led him to the couch. "You're right, you were a stupid little kid at Indigo . . . but that's because you were eleven years old, Ash. Everyone's stupid at that age."

"Not you. You told me to train harder and I didn't listen. Ever since then, I've always taken my tournaments seriously because I remember never wanting to feel how I felt the day I lost to Ritchie: humiliated when my Pokémon wouldn't even listen to me because I had been lazy."

"Ash, that's not gonna happen. Like I said, you're thinking about something that happened almost a decade ago and acting like it was yesterday. You've grown. You're a champion! No one could look at you and think you're lazy or not willing to put in the work." She squeezed his hand so tight it hurt. "But I stand by what I said earlier. You are an idiot. You're burning yourself out. If you keep this up, you'll lose. Have you not noticed I've been winning more of our practice battles lately?"

"Yeah!" A wildness flashed in Ash's eyes. "That's what I'm talking about! That's why I need to get back to work; I've been losing way too much!"

She shook her head sadly. "You're not losing because you're not working hard enough. You're losing because you're working too hard. And I'm not judging you for it; I'm speaking from personal experience." She moved closer to him on the couch and gave a small smile. "Just to show that you're not the only idiot in this relationship, let me tell you a story. When I first moved back to the Cerulean Gym after Johto, I was determined to get the gym back on top. To do that, I did exactly what you're doing now: I pushed my Pokémon and myself way too hard. And just like you, I started slipping. Unfortunately, I didn't have anyone to call me out. My sisters still didn't care about the gym back then, and were gone most of the time. I remember calling Brock and asking him what I was doing wrong."

"You called Brock? While we were in Hoenn?"

She nodded.

"Why not call me? I'm the trainer."

She rolled her eyes. "Because you aren't a gym leader. It's different from being a trainer, just like how being a champion is different. I wanted to talk to someone who had been in my situation before."

"I guess. I wonder why Brock never mentioned your conversation, though?"

"I asked him not to."

"Huh? Why?"

"I told him I didn't want you to gloat, but in reality I was just embarrassed. We had left on such a good note. You were going to chase your dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, and I was going to become the world's greatest water trainer. I had seen you were advancing through Hoenn's gyms pretty quickly, and I felt like it would make me look like a loser to admit my plans weren't going as smoothly."

"Yeah I get that."

"You do?"

"Sure. There were plenty of times when I wanted to call you for advice or a pep talk. Especially after I lost the Ever Grande Conference. Still, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Even knowing you probably watched me lose on TV was super embarrassing." He squeezed her hand. "Still, I wish you had felt like you could talk to me."

She blushed. "We were still dumb kids, then. We were, what, like thirteen or fourteen?" She sighed. "Anyway, Brock told me exactly what I'm telling you now after I explained my training process. He told me to close the gym down for a week for 'renovations.'"

"What did you do while the gym was shut?"

"Absolutely nothing. I literally sat around, watching TV and playing games on my phone. My Pokémon did the same; just played and relaxed. And you know what happened?"

"You started winning."

She winked. "You're not as clueless as I thought, Ketchum. So you see, I'm not pushing these breaks on you to punish you, or because I don't care," she glared at this, "I do it because I do care. Both about you, and about your battle. Your health is deteriorating. You barely talk with me or your mom anymore, and you don't eat, or sleep. You need to take a break today."

She motioned to Pikachu, who was still asleep on the living room sofa, snoring loudly next to them. "And you're not the only one. Poor Pikachu has been working harder than ever before—all of your Pokémon have."

Ash felt a pang of guilt at this. He had been running his Pokémon ragged, but honestly had not really considered it much. "They've been so eager to train, I really didn't think about that."

"They're eager because they love you, and they want to win for you. But that's why you're their trainer; you're supposed to set boundaries for them. They won't rest until you tell them to. They won't stop working until they see you stop."

He nodded. "I guess one day off won't kill me." Despite himself, he felt a yawn coming. "I'll go feed the team and then go back to bed, I guess."

Misty shook her head. "I'll call Oak and ask him to do it when he feeds the other lab Pokémon. Go change and get back in bed. That's an order!"

Ash gave a weak smile. "Yes, ma'am." He started back up the stairs before turning back. "Hey Mist?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For everything."

"Don't mention it. Seriously. I don't want people thinking I'm going soft."

"And I'm sorry for saying you don't care. I'm lucky to have so many people who do care, but you care most of all."

"I'm sorry, too. I really wasn't ever saying you ruined my life, but I'm sorry for even acting like what we've gone through was your fault. The drama and the problems haven't been because of you—it just comes with the territory of being a champion. I'm also sorry for saying you don't appreciate me. I know you do, and you've shown it every day."

"I'm sorry for not appreciating all your sacrifices, though. I hadn't thought about how you gave up a guaranteed spot on the team by leaving Cerulean."

"It's okay. Like I said, you may not have remembered that specific one, but I know you appreciate me. I wouldn't be with a man who didn't appreciate having all this." She gestured to her unkempt bedhead and raggedy pajamas.

He started back up the stairs again before stopping once more. "By the way, I'll leave my door unlocked. You know, in case you want to check and make sure I'm resting."

She suppressed a giggle. "Good idea. If you're not asleep in five minutes, you're in trouble."

"Looking forward to it."

Author's Notes: A time skip felt necessary here. We have already read plenty regarding how hard Ash has trained for prior battles, and even read about how hard he is training for this match. Thus, it would have been a retread of old ground to do a full chapter dedicated to his regimen. However, I did not want to skip straight to the battle with Red, either, since the last couple of chapters were more fun, silly, and in-keeping with the lighter tone of the anime. As I mentioned in those author's notes, I wanted to have one last fun romp for our heroes before the battle with Red, but I felt like jumping straight to the battle would be too much like a cold plunge after playing in warm waters. Instead, I decided to get you used to the temperature of where the story is headed by showing where Ash is mentally as he prepares.

This chapter kind of reminds me of the episode in Avatar the Last Airbender where Aang cannot sleep before his battle with Ozai. Here, we see a sort of descent into mania on Ash's part as he comes to grips with the fact that everything he has worked for these last eight years is coming to a head.

We also see a little bit of the strain that has put on his relationship with Misty. I wanted to show that their relationship, though strong, is not a fairytale. Like anyone, they have real fights, and those fights sometimes get heated. However, what makes their love real is the fact that by the end they always come back to one another. I will not say how much, but their fight was in-part inspired by fights my wife and I have had over the years when I have been on the verge of some major life event. My answer to stress is to work hard, and my wife—like Misty—is the one who has to pull me back when I push myself too far in those moments. I suppose it can be a bit of a "Mary Sue" move to inject too much of yourself or your life into your fanfiction. However, a large reason for why I love Ash is because I identified so strongly with him as a kid. As such, I have to believe that as he grew up, some of my personality would organically be reflected in his. And my wife is pretty much just a one-for-one older version of Misty . . . for better and worse (kidding! . . . kinda).

Anyway, we have one more chapter before the battle officially begins. It promises to be the most complex battle I have ever written. I have actually already put a lot of work into writing it. I want everything to be perfect, so when a good idea comes to me, I immediately write it down to make sure I do not forget. I really hope y'all enjoy it.

As always, I will try to get the next chapter out quickly! Later!